New York Times Reporter Errs in Attack on Film "South of the Border"

Director Oliver Stone and Writers Mark Weisbrot and Tariq Ali Respond

For Immediate Release: June 28, 2010Contact: Dan Beeton, 202-239-1460

Washington, D.C. - As is well-known to those who follow the work of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, CEPR has the highest reputation for accuracy and is extremely careful with details when it comes to numbers and facts. So we were surprised when a prominently featured, 1,665-word article in the New York Times claimed that there were "questions of accuracy" with regard the documentary film, "South of the Border." The Oliver Stone film was written by CEPR Co-Director Mark Weisbrot and Tariq Ali.

It turns out that all of the mistakes in this article belong to the author, New York Times reporter Larry Rohter -- and none to the film. This is shown in the following letter, sent to the New York Times from Oliver Stone, Mark Weisbrot and Tariq Ali.

"South of the Border" began a nationwide theatrical run on June 25 in New York City (Angelika Film Center) earning the weekend's top per-screen average of $21,000 beating out last week's per-screen champ, Fox Searchlight's "Cyrus," on opening weekend. The film widens on July 2 in Los Angeles (Laemmle's Monica 4-Plex and Laemmle's Sunset 5), Pasadena (Laemmle's Playhouse 7), Santa Ana (Regency South Coast Village) and Washington, D.C. (AMC Loews Shirlington 7), July 9 in Chicago (Showplace ICON Roosevelt Collection), July 16 in San Francisco (Sundance Kabuki Cinema), Berkeley (Rialto Cinemas Elmwood) and Palm Springs (Cinemas Palm D'Or), July 23 in Phoenix (Harkins Valley Art) Dallas (AMC Grand 24) and Houston (AMC Studio 30), July 30 in Minneapolis (Showplace ICON at The West End) and Seattle (Regal Meridian 16) with more to be listed. Distributed by Cinema Libre Studio.